When I was first starting on my flower journey, finding information about different cut flower varieties was nearly impossible to come by. The little information that was available was limited to a handful of books, catalogs, and a few online chat rooms.
As my passion and curiosity quickly outgrew the resources available, I started to experiment on my own. I applied for several growers’ grants in order to get funding to conduct in-depth variety trials on our small farm.
The first grants I received focused on trialing ornamental grasses and rose hips as cut flower material. From there, I expanded into celosias, ornamental peppers, different types of foliage and fillers—the list goes on and on.
I shared my findings through numerous trade publications, including The Cut Flower Quarterly, and eventually took over writing the monthly flower column for Growing for Market magazine.
Together we set out to capture and share both the magic of the flowers growing on our farm and everything we were learning along the way.
Every variety that I’ve trialed has been measured against a strict set of grading criteria, including overall plant health, vigor, stem length, beautiful coloring, a long vase life, and fragrance whenever possible.
For many years now I have wanted to find a way to compile all of my findings and Chris’s beautiful photographs so that they could be shared with the world.
A huge thank you to Chris for his beautiful photographs, Jill for all the help with the words, and our creative director Laura for championing this massive project—it never would have been possible without her love and care.
And a special thank you to Elora for spending an entire summer fact-checking, Jes for building us the library of our dreams, and Melissa, for the countless hours she poured into making sure every detail was just right.
The library includes more than 1,500 unique cut flower varieties that have all been grown and tested here on our farm.
Each variety profile includes a detailed description of the plant’s characteristics, beautiful photographs, growing tips and tricks, and harvesting and vase life information.
So you can do a deep dive into a specific group of plants like dahlias or chrysanthemums, or you can look at the entire library and filter based on your own set of criteria.
For example, if you’re a farmer planning what flowers to grow for your florist clients, you can filter by a desired color such as white, green, or blush/champagne. Or if you’re wanting to attract more pollinators into your garden, you can see what varieties they love the most.
If you don’t have any ground to grow in, you can also filter the varieties by which ones are suitable for container growing.
You can choose to print an entire group of plants, such as peonies, as a full set of planning cards, or you can narrow your selections by color, or another feature, and print only those. The planning cards include a beautiful color photograph and the full variety name.
These cards can be cut out and used for garden planning or wedding and event design.
For a virtual tour of the library, including instructions for how to utilize the refine by and print features, be sure to visit the “How to Use the Library” page to watch some helpful tutorial videos.
These favorite source lists include what I love about each company and what they specialize in.
While we have made this information available to use for free, just a reminder that all of the words and images contained within the library are protected under copyright and it is actually illegal to duplicate or plagiarize this information.
If you see anyone using this material, please let us know.
The beauty of the library being digital is that it can be expanded and updated as it evolves. My intention is that one day it will become the largest catalog of its kind, one that will keep expanding as I make new discoveries.
I hope you enjoy it!
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Sonya on
Wow! What a gift – thank you!!!